“Oppa, why did you say that so suddenly?” Ji Hyo finally said something after holding her breath. She didn’t expect such a sudden confession from Jong Kook. They just had a big fight that morning and now he said such a sweet thing out of nowhere.  

“Because I love Ji Hyo-ah. And because how I behaved this morning was bad.”

Starting with that statement, Jong Kook explained Ji Hyo everything about his conversation with Eun Hye earlier. He told his girlfriend every detail about the story. His voice was trembling as he spoke to her, but he kept going on anyway. He wanted Ji Hyo to know everything about it, he wanted to open up to her.

Ji Hyo managed to stay calm while she was listening carefully to the story. To be honest, she wanted to punch him and strangle Eun Hye so bad. But what could she do? Her boyfriend was being super honest about it and she appreciated his honesty. She could only clutch her hands tightly and bit her lower lips. She swore she almost heard her heart explode when she heard about Eun Hye’s confession. But hearing Jong Kook’s opinion about it made her felt relieved. Who would’ve thought Jong Kook would felt disgusted anyway?

‘Forgive and forget’ wasn’t applicable to this case. But however, she realized it would be better if she could just forgive Jong Kook, although she admitted she wasn’t ready to forget it yet. And in addition, she wasn’t willing to forgive Eun Hye yet.

The shocking explanation soon turned into a heart-to-heart talk between the two. They started to talk about their real feelings toward each other, maybe a few cheesy lines. But somehow the conversation showed how well they had grown from the very first moment they dated. It was definitely more mature and realistic.

They turned out to talk throughout the whole night, spending their bedtime lying on their beds with their phones on their ears. Although they were having a mature conversation, it felt like they were going back through the time. It felt like they were teenagers who sneaked out at night to call their lovers, making sure their parents didn’t know about it. They both tried to keep their voices as small as they could be.

But however, adults need to sleep too. They gave up at exactly 2 a.m. due to their heavy eyelids which couldn’t keep their eyes from being opened. Before they hung up, Jong Kook sang his girlfriend a lullaby, a song that he created spontaneously at the moment.

Hearing Jong Kook’s beautiful voice made Ji Hyo felt peaceful. Somehow her mind was cleared and it forced her to think logically. There is no way Eun Hye-ah would say that to oppa. She must have been unconscious or something. It would be really embarrassing for her to say something like that to an older man. That could ruin her career if anybody find out. Something isn’t right. Ji Hyo frowned. She seriously thought about that. What Eun Hye did was really risky. Despite of Eun Hye’s strange behavior, Jong Kook had said before that she sounded normal. So Ji Hyo erased her suspicion and listened carefully at Jong Kook’s voice.

“Oppa, I wish every night is like this.” Ji Hyo said after Jong Kook finished singing.

“Oppa understands that Ji Hyo-ah. I wish the same too.” A smile was shown on his face as he spoke to her. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine if Ji Hyo was there with him.

“With you, every night is a good night. Correction, every night is a perfect night, Jong Kook oppa.”

 Ji Hyo blushed when she heard her own words. It was sweeter than usual and she couldn’t help but felt embarrassed of her own romantic self. She could hear Jong Kook chuckled on the line and that made her cheeks blushed even redder. Without thinking any further, she quickly said good night to him to change the topic. He did the same thing too, but even with a louder chuckle. Ji Hyo-ah is so cute. He said to himself as he hung up the phone and placed it on the small table next to his bed.

Damn, that vibrating sound again! Ignore it Jong Kook, it is probably just a prank call from Haha. Jong Kook told himself to continue his sleep without even bothered to look at the caller ID. His cell phone vibrated for a few more times but in the end it stopped vibrating.

“Oh moributho balkuthkaji da sarangsurowo….” Now it was Ji Hyo’s phone which was ringing. She tried to look for her cell phone with her tired eyes. The 6 hours of sleeping wasn’t enough for her. If it wasn’t because of the early phone call, she wouldn’t have woken up in the first place. She yawned and then opened her eyes as wide as she could. Everything around her became clear and she finally found her phone beside her pillow. She caught a glimpse of the caller ID and grumbled.  Eun Hye-ah. What does she want from me and Jong Kook?!

“Good morning Eun Hye-ah.” She greeted her reluctantly. But the answer she received from Eun Hye wasn’t the type of answer she was expecting to hear from her.

“Ji Hyo Unnie! What did I do??” She said with a thrill in her voice. After a second she calmed down and apologized for being so rude. She greeted Ji Hyo politely and followed by Ji Hyo’s fake friendliness.

“What brings you here to call me out of a sudden, Eun Hye-ah?” The sleepy feeling she had earlier was washed away because of the sudden call. Her mind flew back to her last conversation with Jong Kook. Eun Hye used to be a sweet dongsaeng.

“Unnie, I was drunk yesterday and accidentally I dialed Jong Kook oppa’s number. I notice it from the call history. I didn’t know what did I say to him last night, so I called him again today to ask him about it. He didn’t answer his phone so I suppose he’s mad at me. Do you know what did I say to him yesterday? God I’m so embarrassed!” Eun Hye talked continuously, not giving Ji Hyo any space to speak at all.

So this is what happened yesterday! So She wasn’t a at all. Ji Hyo was somehow relieved about that. It was nice for her to finally find out that her dongsaeng wasn’t as bad as she thought she was. The older woman let out a small sigh and thought about the best answer she could give her dongsaeng.

“Eun Hye-ah, there is a little bit misunderstanding here. I really don’t want to tell you about what did you say last night it because it will definitely make you feel awkward around Jong Kook oppa. However, I will tell him that it was just a misunderstanding. Are you fine with that?” Ji Hyo said as gentle as she could. If she was in Eun Hye’s position, she would feel embarrassed to know what she said to her oppa. As a woman, she wanted to guard Eun Hye’s feeling and she thought that was the best way to do that.

Eun Hye was unsure with Ji Hyo’s offer, but however she chose to believe her unnie. She understood Ji Hyo’s intention and she appreciated it. Maybe it’s better for me to let it stay unknown. Maybe last night I said something really embarrassing. Aisshhh, I hope I didn’t confess my feelings to him because that would be really embarrassing!!! Eun Hye covered her own face with her hands, afraid of facing her own self. Then she took a really deep breath and made up her mind.

“Yes unnie, I suppose that is the best way.” Eun Hye wasn’t satisfied with the solution, but if Ji Hyo thought it would be best, then it really was the best way.

After the conversation, Ji Hyo told Jong Kook everything about it trought a phone call. They both were relieved because Eun Hye was drunk. It would be really bad of Eun Hye if she said something like that when she was conscious. But however, Ji Hyo knew Eun Hye’s feelings toward Jong Kook were real; otherwise she wouldn’t confess something like that. Ji Hyo had an intuition that everything that was said when a person was drunk was always true and honest.

Jong Kook somehow knew about that too and he knew that Ji Hyo knew about it. Ji Hyo didn’t mention about staying away from Eun Hye though. That was one of the things that Jong Kook loved from his girlfriend. She never asked them to stay away from women. She directly let him to choose. Jong Kook had no doubt about their relationship. He even had a thought about proposing her around the year. It was just a flash of thought, though. There was nothing serious about that.

In the other hand, Ji Hyo started to doubt their relationship even more. The meeting with Eun Hye surely was a huge shake in their relationship. Jong Kook was probably fine with that, but she wasn’t. She began to see things which happened in her past relationships. Bad things.

However, Ji Hyo tried to believe in Jong Kook. She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t insecure. Seong Im, you’ll be fine with Jong Kook oppa. He’s nice and you love him. Everything will be just fine. Nothing bad will happen. She repeated the sentences every single night before she went to sleep. The thoughts haunted her and soon it could ruin their relationship from the inside. Stop it, Seong Im. Your past relationships are haunting you! Kim Jong Kook is different!! Your relationship with him is real. It’s sacred and you know that.

“Ji Hyo-ah, you seem so nervous.” Jae Suk tried to comfort her as they walked toward Kwang Soo’s apartment.

“Of course I am nervous, oppa. It had been such a long time since the last time I saw Joong Ki-ah.” She was excited and afraid at the same time. She used to be so close with the flower boy, but since he quitted running man, they had grown distance from each other.

“Too bad the commander wasn’t here to see you like this. I’m sure he can calm you down easily.” He said laughingly as they both walked into the elevator.

The running man casts had been planning a party to welcome Joong Ki since a week ago. Too bad Jong Kook couldn’t come today because he had a show somewhere that he couldn’t cancel. Fortunately he had met Joong Ki a few days earlier. He really loved his dongsaeng and he didn’t want to miss the chance to meet him. Joong Ki was having a break now and would be back to his old schedule on the next week. It would be impossible to plan a meeting with him by then. The young rising star didn’t even have time to drink coffee with his ex co-workers.

“Jae Suk oppa, you’re embarrassing me!” Ji Hyo punched his arms slowly and pressed the elevator button. She came alone with Jae Suk since their houses weren’t far from one another, whereas Haha, Suk Jin, and Gary were taking a taxi.

“How’s your relationship with him, Ji Hyo-ah?” He suddenly talked in a serious way. Ji Hyo didn’t answer right away. She had a difficulty on answering his question. Jae Suk noticed that though. He knew something was wrong.

“You can tell me or the boys if you want to.”

‘The boys’ that Jae Suk mentioned were the other running man casts. She knew they loved her very much, and none of them would refuse to listen to her problems. For the sake of being polite, Ji Hyo really wanted to say no to Jae Suk’s offer, but something held her back from rejecting it. She hesitated, and it meant somehow she wanted to tell him something. Being as smart as usual, Jae Suk noticed it again and continued.

“Tell us when you’re ready. We’ll listen.” He said casually, not wanting to force Ji Hyo.

Soon the elevator doors were opened and they arrived at the floor where Kwang Soo’s room was located. They walked through the hallway and stopped in front of Kwang Soo’s door. Ji Hyo rang the door bell and waited for someone to open it for them. She could here footsteps from inside and she assumed it was Kwang Soo’s. Just a couple of seconds after that, the door was slowly opened from inside. And there he was, smiling perfectly in front of Ji Hyo and Jae Suk.

“Annyeong noona and hyung!” He greeted them properly and bowed politely. It had been a long time and he had become more handsome than ever. Ji Hyo could only grin widely seeing him.

“Joong Ki-ah, you’re more handsome now!!” Jae Suk started the greeting first before Ji Hyo by shaking his dongsaeng’s hand. He then patted Joong Ki’s back excitedly. From inside, they could here Kwang Soo’s loud voice telling them to come in, so Joong Ki moved aside to give space for his hyung to walk in.

“Noona, long time no see.” He greeted again after Jae Suk came in. Joong Ki and Ji Hyo were now still standing at the doorway. Long time not contacting each others made them felt awkward. They could feel the distance now.

“Ah, yes…. How are you now Joong Ki-ah?” Ji Hyo asked, although she actually knew how he was.

“As usua—“ Jong Ki’s words were interrupted by an annoying voice coming from inside. It was Kwang Soo’s again, telling them to come in and enjoy the dinner.

A/N: Okay here it is guys. Sorry for not updating for a week. Yup, my fault, and I don't have any good reason behind it. I was just having a mind block once again. Probably this chapter couldn't satisfy your thirst for drama, but however I promise there will be some dramatic events coming up. 

I'm looking forward to your comments, so please leave a comment. A short one is okay, I just want some comments (yep I'm desperate) :)